A heatwave sweeping across Europe has prompted the shutdown of a nuclear reactor. Reactor 2 at the Golfech nuclear power plant in France’s Tarn-et-Garonne department was taken offline due to high temperatures in the River Garonne nearing the plant’s regulatory limit. This action was confirmed by the state-owned energy company EDF.
France’s national weather service has issued a red heatwave alert for nine departments as the temperature in the Garonne is forecasted to hit 28°C. A decree from 2006 mandates that the river’s temperature must not exceed 28°C post-discharge from the power plant, with discharged water typically being slightly warmer than the river itself.
Reactor 2, the sole operating unit at the Golfech site, was shut down, while Reactor 1 has been offline for maintenance since May. Both reactors are pressurized water reactors with a capacity of 1.3GW. This shutdown follows a previous suspension of operations at Golfech on June 23 for the same reason, as reported by the Express.
EDF’s spokesperson highlighted the significant rise in the Garonne’s temperature due to recent weather conditions, leading to the precautionary shutdown of production unit No. 2 at the Golfech nuclear power station on July 9.
During the last heatwave in June, EDF also halted operations at two other nuclear reactors, one at the Bugey plant on the River Rhône and another at the Nogent-sur-Seine facility on the River Seine, to adhere to environmental temperature limits, according to Le Parisien. The Copernicus Climate Change Service of the EU revealed that western Europe experienced its hottest June on record this year, with an average temperature exceeding the 1991-2020 average by more than 3°C.
Samantha Burgess from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts warned of more intense and prolonged heatwaves impacting wider geographical areas in the future due to global warming.